Tears in Heaven
by sugarpen
Summary: Another goddess has shown up. Will the Capturing God be able to handle all this?
1. Hospital chronicles

**Flag 1.0**

**Hospital chronicles**

— I'm really sorry, Kaminii-sama! It wasn't my intention to hurt you!

Katsuragi looked back at Elsie, who was holding her broomstick very tight, looking really sorry for what happened. _Never play with a knife,_ he once told her, but it had no use. Nothing he could teach her would ever have a use, actually. Elsie was the proof that hell creatures were supposed to _stay in Hell_, not to bug normal peoples' lives. However, if there was any way to get rid of her, he should have done it sooner.

— Don't be sorry — he mumbled, looking at the injured finger like there was some way to fix it using a really difficult game code —, and _please,_ don't scream. You already gave me a dilacerated finger, I don't need migraines too.

Elsie hugged her broom ever tighter and deepened herself into the chair, hoping Kaminii-sama wouldn't be too angry at her. She knew what he was probably thinking: how was he supposed to play his precious galge games with an injured finger? And it was all fault of that absent-minded demon that claimed to be his little sister. If she hadn't showed up in the first place, there wouldn't be piles of unplayed games in his room, and his life would be so much normal...

— Mr. Katsuragi — Keima stood up when his name was mentioned, and a young nurse smiled at him, indicating the way he should follow to meet the doctor. Elsie followed her holy brother, maintaining a safe distance from him. Maybe he wouldn't like to have her in the room with him or something... But when Keima reached the doctor's office, he held the door opened for Elsie, and told her to hurry or she would be outside. Standing there, in the room, there was a man with a big belly and a gray mustache smiling at them, who looked a little like Santa Claus.

— Let's take a look at this finger, son! — Elsie thought that being a doctor should be amazing, because he looked so happy for looking at her brother's finger that it was contagious. — Oooh, it was a deep cut. I think you're going to need a couple of stitches. How did you do this to yourself, son?

— Kitch... Kitch... A tiny... Kitchen... Acc-cident.

Keima was looking directly at the doctor with a horrified expression in his face, while the man grabbed his stitching tools. Nothing in the world made Katsuragi so scared as erasing computer viruses and needles. He felt like he wanted to jump off from the office's window and run for his life, but his legs didn't work. Even for these moments his demon-shaped sister was useless... Elsie could easily suffocate the doctor with her garment and clear the path for Keima to run, but she was just standing there, looking as scared as he was to see his ghost-like white face.

Fortunately, it didn't take too long to stitch Keima's finger, but when he left the room with Elsie behind him, it looked like he has just gone out of a sanguinary war. He was still white as a paper sheet, and trembled like a scared puppy. His situation was so pitiful that he didn't say anything when a male nurse pushed him to the floor in order to open the path for his upcoming equip.

— GET OUT OF THE WAY! EMERGENCY COMING! — Everywhere they passed, people stepped aside to clean the room; but Keima was so scared about the needles that didn't listen to the man. The only sound he could hear, right when the equip passed, pushing a stretcher, was that unstoppable and annoying noise that totally took over his life: _doro doro doro doro doro doro doro..._

— That girl lying on that bed... She has a weiss, Kaminii-sama! — It was amazing how happy Elsie always got when the runaway spirits manifested their existence. Keima knew that there was some kind of contest or something that gave a big honor for those who got the biggest quantity of spirits, but her happiness state was just overreaction, at his point of view. — Come on! — She held his hand and started walking on the direction the equip has followed.

— Setsuna Sakura, 17 years old, attends to the second year at Misato Hisagi High School. It's the same school as Tenri, isn't it, Kaminii-sama? — Keima nodded his head, saying yes, and Elsie kept on going: — Her mother died when she was a child from unknown causes, and she now lives with her father. They have a photograph studio downtown, and when she's not at school, she helps her father to serve the customers. — Elsie stopped looking at her garment's information to pay attention at the girl, who was lying in the stretcher since the time she got there. — And she is very beautiful, too, Kaminii-sama...

— She sure is... — Elsie looked at her holy brother, who was very attentive to Sakura. — But she is also very lonely... We've been here for hours, and no one showed up to look for her, or to know what happened... And I'm pretty sure no one was looking forward to her fainting on the street. — At the time he stopped talking, the girl started kicking and punching the air above her, like she was having a terrible nightmare with rapists. — Come on, Elsie, let's check that.

They entered the room very quietly, in order to preserve the girl's sleep, and stood by her bed. Indeed, since the hospital staff put her on that room, no one else came in there. The only people that looked a little interested on Sakura were Keima and Elsie, and it was only because of the runaway spirit. When Keima approached to the bed, he could listen to Sakura's desperate whispers:

— No... Get off me... Get off... We'll imprison you at the depths of Hell... You will be trapped into the gates of oblivion... Sink over me... Sink, sink over my power... Drink my soul... — Her innocent face was contorted in fear and hatred, and her cheeks were getting blushed. The most strange, however, was her skin, which got a very discrete blue shine, making her look like an angel, a fairy or some other ethereal creature. This similarity was confirmed by her platinum blond hair, almost white, which was shinning a little bit, too.

Keima stepped away from the stretcher, a little scared by the vision. Since the day Elsie entered his life, he saw a lot of strange things: disappearing girls, giant girls, demon girls and even heavenly creatures; but none of them looked _this_ strange. The girl was _shining_. He never saw a shining girl. At least, not spontaneously. And she was whispering about Hell, and trapping someone into the gates of oblivion... What was that supposed to mean? Did runaway spirits dream? Okay, if the girl can shine, then weiss can possibly dream. But it was all so strange that he, somehow, refused to believe.

— What the hell...? — Keima looked back to see a tall, brunet boy standing on the doorway. He looked alarmed by their presence, and a little worried, probably about Sakura's life and/or security. — Who are you? How did you get here? Step away from Sakura-chan!

— We were just worried about her — Keima's calm scared Elsie. She was already trembling, while her divine brother talked to that guy like they knew each other! — She passed out and no one showed up to look for her, so we decided to watch over her until someone appeared. — The guy looked angry for a while, but then his expression relaxed and he opened room to Elsie and Keima to get out.

— Okay, then. But go away. And, if I realize you were trying to harm Sakura-chan, I'll hunt you to hell. — That threaten made the boy smile, which indicated, at least to Keima, that it wasn't really his intention. — I'm Kazuki Tenchi, by the way.

— Katsuragi Keima — he answered, bending over a little bit, respectfully. — And this is my little sister, Elsie.

— Nice to meet you. — Tenchi approached to Sakura's stretcher and sat by her, holding her hand very carefully. It looked like he was used to meet her at hospitals, because his face didn't look so worried anymore, but it was still a strange situation for him. _Probably,_ Keima thought, _she wasn't used to pass out in the middle of the street, but it started happening... Because of the weiss._

The bell has barely rung when Katsuragi packed his school stuff and put the bag on his shoulders. He didn't want to spend the afternoon at school, or even at home, when he could be investigating the shining girl; because of that, he approached to Elsie before leaving, when she was talking to the rest of her band.

— I'm going back to the hospital — he warned. — If you don't want to go, it's okay. I heard you saying that today you and the rest of the girls would be rehearsing, so you should stay at school. — Elsie smiled and, for a moment, Keima thought she would try to hug him, but she didn't. Finally, she got used to her divine brother disliking 3D people. — But I may need your help later. — Seeing the questioning look at Elsie's face, Keima adjusted his glasses over his nose and continued: — You saw that thing on Sakura yesterday, didn't you? She was _shining_. That cannot be normal. And losing spirits don't do these things, I guess. Just deducing, though.

— You should talk to someone, Kaminii-sama — Elsie advised, speaking very low, for that no one could listen to them. — Maybe Haqua, or Tenri... They probably know what this glow is about. It may be an effect of the losing spirit...

— Or something else — he said, nodding his head in clearly disapproval. — I'm not going to talk to anyone before I'm sure it's not a weiss. If there _is_ something even wronger with Sakura, then only a few people should know. We didn't get rid of Vintage yet, Elsie.

— Okay, then. — Elsie's dumb smile got back to her face, and she rose her broom in excitement, just like she used to do... All the time. — See you later, Kaminii-sama! And let me know if you need anything!

Keima turned around and started walking his way down to the hospital. It wasn't actually a long way, but he had to hurry if he wanted to go in there before the visiting time was over. On his PFP, the girl asked him to go to the church. Even his character wasn't religious, so he said no. Bad choice... She was now giving him a lecture about saving his spirit and things like that. Goddesses... After localizing them all, Keima was so tired he thought his job as a buddy was over; but no, they weren't able to seal the spirits because their power was too low. Now he had to give daily love shots to the six girls he found goddesses inside, until their power was restored and they were able to seal the weiss and give Keima his life back. Until there, he had to get girls' hearts rid of runaway spirits and its respective gaps. Otherwise, the Jupiter Sisters wouldn't cooperate with him. Diana said so, and he preferred to believe her.

He arrived to both the save point and the hospital at the same time. After talking to the receptionist, Keima was allowed to go to Sakura's room; first, he had to go up three floors and walk through four different halls, which looked exactly the same. When he finally got to the hall where his mysterious shinning girl was, the sound of people talking inside her room made him put away his PFP and stay hidden, listening carefully.

— I thought you wouldn't come... — the first voice was feminine, very fragile and unsteady, like someone who spent the last hour crying. — You shouldn't have came, by the way... You must have more important things to do...

— No, I don't — Tenchi's voice was strong and decided, the typical voice of someone who wants to convince other person of something. — You know you're my best friend, I will always have time to be with you. Even at the hospital. — Keima noticed that Sakura's breath became a little faster, like she was happy with that sentence. — Sakura-chan... Why is it happening? You weren't this fragile... Is there anything going on? Anything strange? — She probably said no, because he continued: — If there's nothing going on, why then you keep passing out and being nauseated for nothing? You should really see a doctor for that... I mean... Well, you are already here, I think your father will tell them to take care of you. And if he doesn't, I will do it. Someone has to.

— Thank you, Tenchi-san — her voice was now a little steadier, and Keima thought that she was going to get out of the room bouncing as a little kid. — You know I will always stand by you, too. — Some moments passed in silence, and Keima assumed they might be hugging. — But it's time for you to get back to school, isn't it? I'm pretty sure you haven't even had lunch yet. You also have to watch over yourself, Tenchi-san!

— I ate something before coming here... Anyway, you're right. I should come back to school. Will you be okay?

— Sure — she guaranteed. — I have a whole staff of doctors and nurses just waiting for me to crush again, so yes, I will be okay.

Keima didn't wait to listen to the end of that conversation. He walked away before Tenchi made him go home in a matchbox. Tenchi didn't really look too strong, but he wouldn't need to if he wanted to hurt Katsuragi. The Capturing God, then, stayed at the corner of the hallway, waiting for Tenchi to be far enough; then, he walked to Sakura's room.

When he got to the doorway, he stopped.

Sakura was sitting on the stretcher, looking forwards, to the exact place where Keima was standing. Her eyes were benevolent and dreamy, but, at the same time, tough, just like Tenri's when Diana was taking over her body. Sakura's skin was shiny, just like Keima wanted to see, but now there was a much more intense glow than the other time. Her long platinum hair was floating around her, like a mist, giving her an ethereal appearance, and she worn a very long, but light, blue dress, different from the school's uniform from the day before. From her back, a pair of huge white wings came out and, on the top of her head, there was a halo.

That was the most divine vision Keima had in his entire life.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note:<strong> hello minna-san! I hope you like this fanfiction. It's been originally posted on deviantart, and this first chapter was released in April 19th, so you might find some strange things when compared to the original manga. When I posted it on my dA page, Wakaki Tamiki's chapter 139 has just been released. Well, I'm sorry if my English is not that good, I'm trying to get better at it. And it's everything I have to say. See you on flag 2.0, then!


	2. Heaven and Hell

**Flag 2.0**

**Heaven and Hell**

Keima knocked three times and waited. It didn't take too long until Tenri's mother showed up on the doorway, with her big and warm smile, like she wanted to make all of the world's problems go away with that. She told Keima to come in, and said her daughter was upstairs, adding that she would probably be very happy if he surprised her by showing up there. He didn't really want to invade her privacy like that, but since her mother insisted, he went up.

— Tenri... — he knocked once before going in her bedroom, and it was a good thing, because Tenri had a towel wrapped over her body. — Your mom told me to come up. — As expected, she blushed in tones of red that Keima didn't know, and hid her eyes behind her hair. Keima stepped back and waited by the door until she told him it was okay to come inside.

— Hello, Keima-kun — she saluted him, looking very ashamed. He still couldn't see her eyes behind her hair, but at least now she was wearing some clothes. The only strange thing Keima could notice was that Tenri's hair wasn't tied in the regular pigtails, but down on her shoulders. — I'm... I'm sorry... I will do the pigtails while we talk... I'm not used to bathe using them.

— It's okay, you look beautiful with your hair down. — Katsuragi noticed that Tenri's eyes got some kind of new glow after he said that, but he was there because of bigger things than looking at people's eyes. — Hey, Tenri, I really need to talk to Diana. Could you... — Before he could even finish the sentence, the halo and the wings appeared in Tenri, and that inquiring look – as scary as Sakura's – was already in her eyes.

— You should come after Tenri sometimes, you know? She's your friend, too. — Keima looked down to his feet. He wasn't really ashamed – he has taken Tenri to lunch last week –, but this was a way to avoid arguing with Diana at the moment. — Oh, Tenri, you know I can't tie your pigtails! It's just too difficult for me! Apollo would know how to do that, but I don't! — She stopped talking when Keima forced her to sit on the bed by pressing her shoulder and started tying her hair. — Come on, you know how to tie pigtails?

— I had to do that a lot in games — he explained, while separating her hair in two parts. He hasn't finished to divide the first part of the hair in three when the wings shrunk and the halo disappeared. He opened his mouth to say something against that sudden body change, but then he realized that Diana wanted to give that moment to Tenri, and agreed with that. That would be his way to show his love for her in that day.

The time while he tied Tenri's pigtails passed silently and slowly; Keima could see her face and neck turn each time redder, and he was blushing himself. It was a really awkward moment, and neither of them knew how to handle those moments. When it finally came to its end, Keima stood up and said:

— Okay, it's over. Now you tie it up, 'cause I don't know how to do _that_. — He handed her the two red ribbons she used to wear and she started tying the pigtails up. — Hey, Tenri... Is it okay if you come to my house now? I really need to talk to Diana.

She said yes and they went downstairs, stopping only to tell Tenri's mother that she was going to the Katsuragi's for a while. The Ayukawa's mother answered with one of her huge smiles, and the two youngsters went right to Keima's room – his mother was too busy at the coffee house to say hello to them. Amid the games that were piling on the floor, two demon girls and four regular girls were sitting: Nora, Haqua, Tsukiyo the Astronomy girl, Kanon, Yui and Shiori from the library. Tenri looked at them and blushed, sitting by Shiori, who was trying to hide behind a big brown book. Keima sat by Tsukiyo and felt her creepy doll's eyes on him, as always. It didn't take long until Elsie open the door very loudly, with Ayumi after her.

— Sorry I'm late, Kaminii-sama! Chihiro wanted to be rehearsing a little more... But I managed to bring Ayumi! — The second girl smiled at the others, that didn't answer. The meetings between the Jupiter Sisters always had that much tension, once they were all in love with the same guy. Keima didn't like that, tough. He preferred them to live in harmony than in love with him.

Nora pulled Ayumi to sit by her, and Haqua did the same to Elsie.

— Kanon, Tenri, Tsukiyo, Ayumi, Shiori, Yui... Would you please show us your goddesses? I have an extremely important issue to talk about to them, and we have no time to lose.

There was a very silent moment in which the girls closed their eyes and started emanating an intense white light; a minute later, Katsuragi's bedroom became a confusion of wings and halos, along with the demon girls' pink garments. Tsukiyo, who was squatting, fell due to Volcano's deficiency and dropped her doll, which came back flying a second later; Kanon started looking dumb and strangely happy because of Apollo's... Dumbness; Ayumi looked like a seven-year-old, filled with the energy of Mercury's soul; Yui was stronger and even more manly than usual, emanating the warrior's soul of Mars; Shiori finished her book in less than a minute and put it down, and deep in her eyes it was possible to see Minerva's wisdom and suspicion; and Tenri looked at Keima with Diana's best piercing look. As always, he felt a little uncomfortable with all those goddesses looking at him, but everything he could do was to remain calm and talk.

— Thank you all for showing up... — Keima swallowed his tension and kept talking. — I called you goddesses and the demon girls 'cause yesterday I saw a very... Intriguing... Fact. — He sighed and adjusted his glasses over his nose. — I saw... Another goddess.

There was a general astonishment toward the girls. Apollo let a little surprised scream come out, and Volcano made Tsukiyo's doll come dangerously close to Keima.

— Are you sure? — She asked. — You're better be completely sure about this before telling us, Katsuragi...

— Of course he's sure — Haqua answered, unexpectedly, attracting all the attention to herself. — Katsuragi is an intelligent boy — she blushed and slowed down her speaking while saying that, like she wasn't very sure of her words —, have you ever seen him trying to fool any of us?

— He sure wouldn't try to mess up with the Jupiter Sisters, nee-sama — Mars said, laughing a little afterwards. Her laugh scared both Keima and the demon girls; it has already been too difficult for them to get used to that intimidating voice the goddess of war had. — He knows we are tough girls, right, Keima-kun? — After saying that, she looked so cute that anyone would want to take her home, but everyone in that room knew that the great Mars was able to destroy entire armies with a single word.

— How did she look like? — The question came from Minerva, and it was so unexpected that Nora startled.

— She had the halo and the wings, just like you, but she was so different... I mean... She was shiny. — Keima saw Elsie's mouth open a little, like she has just realized that he was talking about Sakura. — Her skin shone in blue, very softly. And her hair was strange... I can't explain...

— Did it look like mist? Or like water? — Mercury asked and seemed to realize where her sister was about to get with the question about the other goddess' appearance.

— Like mist — Keima added —, but her dress looked like water. The girl she was in didn't have that dress. I think it was property of the goddess, if you are allowed to have properties...

— We're just allowed our own appearances — Diana explained. — If the goddess had that dress, it is because the outfit is part of her original appearance, just like the misty hair, the wings and the halo. But it's not possible... A goddess with this description...

— I thought they were all gone — Apollo's childish voice filled Keima's room. — Thought that they had turned into energy to help us seal Old Hell... Wasn't that what happened? I can barely remember those facts, but I know that those three weren't there when we did the dirty deeds.

— No, Apollo — Minerva nodded her head. — The ones who gave their vital energy to help us were Pluto and our mother, Jupiter... One of them was still alive after we shut Old Hell, although almost all of her power has been consumed. She couldn't even go inside someone's heart. Her state was pitiful when we left Heaven.

— Hey, you, heavenly people — Nora called the attention to herself, and pointed her finger at Minerva. — Can't you see that we do not understand a word of what you're saying? We could just sit here and listen, but, you know, we won't. — She put down her finger when Minerva's expression got too intimidating to face. — We want to help you, if this is a problem. We have already proved ourselves honest, so... Please, explain to us what's going on!

The goddesses were silent for a moment, thinking about how insane was that little demon to confront them all that way. Then, they just concluded it was a nonsense moment of Nora, and that she should not be punished; that was when Mars started talking, looking to Keima.

— Many years ago, there was a huge war between Heaven and Old Hell. I remember that so clearly... Along with my eighteen little angels, I won over three legions of demons. — Haqua and Nora seemed a little alarmed by that, but Mars didn't give it a clue. — My sisters also did a great job on that war, but it wasn't enough. Every time we confronted Hell, they seemed bigger... Then we realized that fighting only the legions wouldn't be enough: we had to get rid of the high demons, the ones who had the greatest powers of all. — She stopped talking for a while, maybe to favor the drama. — They could control souls and even living people. That was when the High Triad came in the war.

— The High Triad? — Elsie couldn't help asking, and Apollo found a little funny the way she hid her mouth after saying that.

— Yes — Diana added —, the High Triad. They are the three most powerful goddesses of Heaven, and, I dare to say, the three most powerful creatures in the whole Universe. One of them is our mother, Jupiter, commander of the skies. She watched over every single event that concerned to the air and the skies above our heads: storms, rains, hurricanes... Everything.

— Our mother had two sisters — said Volcano. — One of them was Pluto, commander of the dead world. She was the one to judge the dead souls about their punishments for what they did on Earth, but she also sent them back after the price for their disobedience was paid. However, the souls she sent to Old Hell were lost forever. She couldn't interfere on their punishment, control them or send them back. — Volcano stopped talking, looking too tired to continue. Her sister Diana held her when she felt like falling down again, and Mercury continued the story.

— The last one of the High Triad was Neptune. She ruled over the seas and the natural life. You can tell, just by this information, that Neptune was the most powerful of the Triad. She could take over any living creature and make it play by her rules. The more complex the organism, however, the more energy it took away from her, and that's why she didn't like to take over human beings. — She looked at Keima like he was a vermin. — Anyway, because of her great responsibility, Neptune was the one who held the greater amount of energy.

— When we concluded that we couldn't face Old Hell by ourselves, the High Triad said they could handle the highest demons while we fought the lower ones. — Minerva continued the story without being asked to, which gave her and Mercury that twin appearance, when they start completing each other's sentences. — The three of them passed through every high demon you can imagine, but when they reached the higher one, Beelzebub, it was impossible to defeat him at once.

— They fought several times — Keima was amazed when he saw Apollo talking. He judged her so stupid that thought she would never be able to help him at anything that involved memories or any kind of thinking. — Beelzebub could always take them down very easily, if you consider that they were the three most powerful creatures of Heaven. When we weren't able to resist anymore, the High Triad said that they were going to do anything they could to seal Beelzebub forever that time, and they really did... — Apollo stopped, looking down, like she was about to cry. Indeed, her voice trembled a little after that. — That battle was so intense that Jupiter and Pluto gave away all their power to weaken Beelzebub the most as they could. Until today, I thought the same had happened to Neptune, but...

— Neptune gave away the biggest part of her power, but she got to destroy Beelzebub before it was all gone — Minerva said, correcting her sister. — When the battle was over, she got back to Heaven looking like she would never be able to open her eyes, again. All of us thought the same way. Some of our angels tried to give her their power, but it had no use, because, as you already know, goddesses only get stronger through love — she looked at Keima and smiled. — Afterwards, we sealed Old Hell and spent a lot of our power, too, so we got back to Earth to look for loving girls who could feed us. Neptune couldn't even do _that_.

Keima and the Hell people looked into themselves, trying to fix that really big story in a way it could not go away. They should all be able to remember its details afterwards, specially Keima, and he knew all the goddesses thought that way, too. He was so concentrated on that task that he startled when Diana touched his arm.

— Katsuragi, we want to see this girl. — He looked at her a little alarmed. How was he supposed to get seven people inside a hospital, considering that the demon girls didn't want to come? — We must know if she's really Neptune, and if she is, she must know that her nieces are regaining their power.

A flashlight came from where Mars was sitting, and the wings and the halo disappeared, leaving only a scared, but confident, Yui sitting in the middle of five goddesses and three demons. She looked at everyone and seemed to realize that those were the sisters Mars used to talk about. Ashamed, the girl smiled.

— Mars is sorry... — She localized Keima and looked directly at him, feeling more powerful to talk after that. — She said she didn't have enough power to hold the connection for this long and that I could have my body back. Oh, and she told her sisters that she was looking forward to see you again very soon.

Some of the goddesses, like Apollo and Mercury, smiled at Yui and thanked her for the message, telling her to say the same to their sister; Minerva and Nora looked and Keima, clearly blaming him for Mars' lack of power. He sighed and looked back at Diana.

— I will bring you to the hospital tomorrow. — _Just hope she doesn't expel me from her room, as she did today, _he thought, picturing how troublesome would be to have six expelled goddesses in a hospital.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note: <strong>hello, people! I must say I was very thrilled by the feedback on Tears in Heaven first chapter. I loved all your comments, so please keep saying what you think about this story! Your comments make my fanfiction a lot better. Also, I'm sorry for not being posting it. I've been very busy with school stuff, but now I'm on vacation and I hope I can keep posting! Oh, by the way, this chapter's title is a tribute to Black Sabbath's song Heaven and Hell (sang by the vocal god Roonie James Dio). Thank you again (now for reading this) and see you on flag 3.0!


	3. The goddesses' council

**Flag 3.0: The goddesses' council**

_Well, this is an interesting development,_ Keima thought while going down the hallway with the three girls after him. The first rule in harem type galge games was "never let the girls meet". Keima remembered his first harem game. In that occasion, he left the girls meet. Of course, he lost it, along with his character's own head. This time it wasn't possible to keep the girls away from each other. Keima needed the goddesses together to investigate the Neptune candidate, Sakura. Tough he was playing, he could still feel Yui's look on his nape, and clearly smell the tension between her, Tsukiyo and Tenri.

"Stay outside" he asked, when they approached the room. "After I check the room, you can come in." Tsukiyo and Tenri nodded their heads, and Yui smiled. Making sure they would all be good girls, Keima walked to Sakura's room, hoping to find her in human form. Luckily, there she was, sitting on the stretcher and reading. The sound of Keima's shoes caught her attention, and she looked at him, frightened.

"Who... Who are you?"

"Don't be scared" he asked, very gently, but she didn't look like following his advice. "I'm Katsuragi Keima, and I will do you no harm." Then he found the failure on his plan: he didn't know how to approach to Sakura. She wasn't one of the girls he was supposed to capture, and he couldn't simply ask her to see her goddess. He didn't have to think too hard about that, anyway; it didn't take long until that dense spotlight came from Sakura's body, and then Neptune came out, with her intimidating eyes scanning Keima.

"You are the boy from yesterday." He has never listened to Neptune's voice, and it was even stronger and scarier than Mars'. "I thought I have told you to never come here again."

"I needed to." Neptune looked at him with a lifted eyebrow, clearly contesting his need. Keima could understand that: if he was a god with power over every living thing, he would also think that human needs were superfluous. "There are some people I know and that would like to meet you..."

"I don't meet with people" she affirmed, her eyes now looking scarier than ever. "Never did, and now it's gonna be even harder to make me talk to regular people." Her voice became a little lower when she added: "You're too dumb to know that, but we have been betrayed."

"By Hell, I know" if someone told Keima that he would make a high goddess look frightened, he would not believe, but it was happening, and it made him feel very smart for a moment. Then he reminded what he was there for, and realized how silly he looked. "I also know you are a goddess, and that's why I'm here. Your nieces are looking forward to see you, and I will not deprive them from this."

"My nieces, you say?" Her eyes started shining with a silly trace of happiness. "The Jupiter Sisters...?"

He didn't wait for another reaction; before Neptune could even think about the possibility of Keima to lie, he called the girls inside and closed the door, right before Diana came out. She looked around and then, back to Keima, looking a little uncomfortable.

"Where are my other sisters?" Diana sounded like an unprotected child, a pitch Keima thought he would never listen coming out of her mouth. He saw her shrug her shoulders and look around, but now, not looking for something or someone, but simply looking, like she was inspecting the place. "This place is frightening..."

"I thought Heaven would look like this" Keima said, while taking his PFP out of the backpack.

"It does, a little. But hospitals always creep me out. It doesn't matter, though... You didn't say where my other sisters are."

"I couldn't contact Kanon-chan, Ayumi's mother didn't allow her to come, and Shiori said she couldn't leave the library earlier two days in a roll." When he saw Diana's worried looking, he added: "I'll bring them here as soon as I can."

Diana gave Keima a last worried glance and turned her attention to her present sisters. None of them had the halo and the wings, which should indicate that those were not Mars and Volcano, but Yui and Tsukiyo. That conclusion made Diana worry even more. There were two goddesses, one of them part of the most powerful alliance of Heaven, in front of two little girls who could barely listen to what their goddesses discussed while taking over their bodies. But the girls didn't look too scared themselves: Tsukiyo was taking care of her doll's hair – a notably beautiful hair, Diana noticed – and Yui was too worried about Katsuragi's movements to see anything else. Seconds after Diana's observation, she heard a dry noise and saw Tsukiyo, now with halo and wings, lying on the floor.

"I'm sorry I'm late, nee-sama", Volcano stretched her arms and Diana helped her up, sitting her on the chair by Sakura's bed. "Tsukiyo didn't want to leave Katsuragi behind to give me her body." She looked at Keima and took a long sigh.

"Don't worry, Volcano-chan", Mars' voice echoed through the fragile hospital room. "I think we were not the ones to be late, but our sister is the one to be early..." Diana looked at Mars with the best poker face she could express. "Oh, don't be mad at me, nee-sama..." She suddenly stopped talking, and her eyes fixed on the fourth goddess on the room, which have been observing the sisters with a lot of attention. When she finally understood who was that goddess, Mars knelt, and Diana did the same; Volcano just put her head down. Keima raised his eyes from his PFP screen when they all said, in a chorus:

"We solemnly salute you, oh Neptune, higher goddess of Heaven, and ask you to pour your blessing and your wisdom over us!"

Down to their knees and with their heads looking to the floor, those three goddesses looked like little apprentices. In that moment, Keima realized how important Neptune was. Otherwise, Diana, who was always so proud and superior to him, would never kneel and salute her so submissively.

"I bless you, and shall my wisdom invade you." Neptune nodded her head once and the three goddesses stood up. "Oh, Volcano, Diana, Mars... It's been far too long...!" She was smiling at her nieces, which was a little strange, once she always looked so scary. "It looks like that terrible war happened thousands of years ago."

"Indeed. Ever since that battle, in which your sisters has been consumed, we never heard of you, Neptune." Volcano added, while caressing Tsukiyo's doll hair. "Apollo even thought you have disappeared."

"Oh, no... It would be a good thing, though. I lost my two sisters for that creepy Hell's bastard, and the greatest part of my power was designated to make him go away forever. I could not even take a place into someone's heart until very recently... And I don't really think that disappearing is much worse than this."

"We have been torn apart ourselves, Neptune." Mars' face didn't have that fun expression she used to show. "Diana was the first one to go inside someone's heart, and it happened only ten years ago. The six of us spent more than three hundred years wandering, with nowhere to go, with not enough power to go back to Heaven."

"My situation is not different" Neptune added, with a resigned sigh. "I only returned to a material form three years ago, when I found Sakura and started to empower. And you all know I was very lucky to find her." The sisters agreed with a nodding of their heads. "When I lost my power and went back to Heaven, I hoped I could be cured by angelic powers, but, when none of our colleagues were able to help me, I couldn't keep living up there. I also knew that the chances I would never find someone with the proper love to enforce me were high enough to care about the next life's regent. But then I found Sakura... "

"Proper love?" Keima didn't worry about interrupting their conversation. He knew there was nothing they could do to him at the hospital, and he also knew that they needed his help to go after Vintage. Plus, he wasn't really afraid of any of those goddesses. "Are you saying there are _kinds_ of love?"

"Exactly. Originally, if you are a goddess, you can be able to feed on any kinds of love, but me and my sisters paid a price for our exaggerated wisdom and power: we can only feed on _true_ love." The doubtful look at Katsuragi's face made Neptune keep talking. "You may have heard of a kind of love that never dies, and that is capable of anything to be alive. _That_ is true love. It has no ending and feeds a goddesses' power much slower than regular love, because it opens bigger gaps in the carrier's heart. It is also extremely difficult to find, and that's why a lot of people think it doesn't exist." She started playing with her stretcher's sheets. "True lovers don't care about themselves. The only thing they can think about is their object of love; it doesn't matter what happens to them, as long as the other one is happy. Sakura-chan, for example, doesn't mind if Tenchi-san gets a girlfriend, as long as she is good for him. This kind of love also does not depends on goddesses; it would happen if I was here or if I wasn't."

Volcano narrowed her eyes and looked dangerously mad at Neptune.

"So you're saying Tsukiyo's love for Katsuragi is not true love?"

"That's right, dear Volcano!" Tough Volcano was almost breaking the hospital walls to make the building fall over Neptune's head – Keima could feel her will to do that –, the high goddess was so calm it was frightening. "Don't be mad. You know that as well as I do. Tsukiyo only loves this boy because your presence made her remember his kiss. Otherwise, she would keep loving... Regular things." Keima thought that could be an offence, but didn't give it too much thought. "Tenri's love for him, on the other hand, existed way before Diana went into her."

Neptune saw Diana blushing and glancing at Keima, obviously looking very nervous. He kept on playing, looking totally oblivious about the situation. Diana sighed in relief because of his behavior, and Neptune realized that the boy probably didn't know about the depth of Tenri's feelings. She smiled and put her hand over Diana's shoulder, trying to calm down her niece.

"There's someone..." Volcano whispered, and that was when Mars saw Tsukiyo's doll just by her side, glancing outside through the window. "There's someone out there, looking at us."

Neptune immediately paralyzed the person outside, and Keima opened the door to Mars, who picked the woman up and brought her into the room. After sitting her down on the floor, her mind was released and she looked around. The expected reaction would be fear and astonishment, but the woman – a nurse, judging by her clothes – was looking at the goddesses with a scary smile on her face.

"Four goddesses..." Keima almost dropped his PFP when the possibility came to his head. "This is even better than I thought... Of course we all knew that there was one of you here, but..."

"VINTAGE!" He screamed, at the same moment in which the woman pulled a dagger out of her nurse's outfit's pocket and jumped over Mars. Fortunately, there were four goddesses there – as the nurse had observed herself –, and one of them was Neptune, who made the woman fall over the attacked goddess, under the power of her spell. Then Mars held the nurse's neck and switched places with her, sitting over her abdomen and telling Neptune to release her again.

"So, you are a big fat betrayer, aren't you?" The woman's eyes now looked terrified. Keima knew she was about to run, but there was nowhere she could go; besides, Mars' force was so big that the nurse couldn't get off her even if she tried. "I'll teach you not to mess up with Heaven, little lady!" Mars looked at the woman's eyes and, out of nothing, she started screaming. It was so loud that Katsuragi thought it was very weird that no one showed up to help her; later, he would be told that those deeds couldn't be seen or heard by anyone who didn't know exactly what was happening there.

"Mars, no!" Diana asked, probably making an effort to stop the sister's torture. "Don't crush her mind! It will consume all of your power, and we need this woman alive!"

The nurse's screams got each time lower, until they were over, and Keima could hear his own thoughts again. He was pretty sure he never wanted to witness a heavenly torture again; even though he didn't mind about people, that scream was a really ugly thing. It went right into Katsuragi's brain and left a scar, like he was the one to be tortured. Because of the effort to defend herself and the other goddesses, Mars resigned to the depths of Yui's heart, leaving the girl totally unaware of the situation, still sitting on other woman's belly. She looked at Keima, clearly confused, and he sent her a sign, saying that he would explain it later.

The other goddesses took care of the Hell's nurse while Keima borrowed Tenri's cell phone to call Elsie and warn her about what happened.

"Elsie will be here in a moment with Haqua and Nora" he said, as soon as he gave the telephone back to Diana. "Yui, Mars was wrestling with that woman when she switched places with you, and I think it wouldn't be good for your sanity if you knew why she was doing it." Yui laughed and Neptune smiled at her. Before the goddess could say anything, Yui manifested her curiosity:

"Well... I've seen the ones who look like Mars before, but you're new." She came closer to Neptune and looked into her eyes. "Are you a goddess, too?"

"Yes. I am Neptune, one of the three most powerful goddesses in Heaven."

There was a short moment of silence before Yui answered:

"Nice to meet you. I'm Goidou Yui."

"KAMINII-SAMA!" Elsie went in the room very loudly, as usual, and also looking very tired. After her, Nora and Haqua were running. "We're sorry we're late...! People don't allow us to fly in here!" She looked at the paralyzed nurse onto the floor, then to the goddesses surrounding her, then to Yui, and then back to Keima. "What happened, Kaminii-sama...?"

"This woman is part of Vintage" he started, but wasn't able to finish. A very excited Nora appeared in front of Elsie, holding a little jar with a screw top.

"Wow, great! I'm collecting Vintage members!" She approached to the nurse, being followed by the scared looks of Diana, Neptune and Volcano. "I keep Fiore inside another bottle, on the top of my bedside table, while no one is sent to get her..." She used her garment to cover up the nurse and, when it returned to its former shape, she was already tiny enough to fit in the jar. "And you will be just by her side."

They spent some minutes talking about that attack, but there wasn't much they could say, once Yui was there in her human form and kept asking for details of the things that happened. In the end, they all agreed that Neptune must get out of that hospital as soon as she could, and that when it was done, they should meet at Keima's to talk about Vintage in better conditions. Tsukiyo and Tenri got back to their own bodies and left the room, along with Haqua, Nora and Yui; when Keima turned around and started walking away, Neptune called him back.

"Katsuragi." He was a little terrified about that, not only because Neptune's voice and expression were terrifying, but also because he thought she hasn't learnt his name. The goddess floated until the place he and Elsie were standing and knelt down before him, just like the other ones did when they met her, making the boy blush. "I'd like to thank you. You've been empowering all my nieces... It must be very hard on you, too." She raised her head and looked at him." And I just realized we are all going to be in another war... So your power is really important for them." She stood up and looked Keima on his eyes. "Don't fail."

"I won't", he promised, and walked away with an excited and astonished Elsie behind him.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note: <strong>well, I've been a bad girl once again and delayed this chapter's post in something like... A month. Or two. Again, I'd like to apologize to the people that have been waiting for this (assuming there are any...) and tell the ones which are reading this but waiting for releases on deviantART that these releases might be coming up really soon.

This chapter's title is also a tribute, this time to a genius portuguese poet names Luís Vaz de Camões. One of the episodes of his book The Lusiads is called "The God's Council", after which I named this flag.

Thank you for reading and commenting and I see you on flag 4.0! (Which I really hope that happens soon.)


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